


Faked break-up

by AniZH



Category: Victorious
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 14:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6332044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AniZH/pseuds/AniZH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of course, Jade is pissed about this whole Alyssa Vaughn business but they've talked about it before. She and Beck are fine. Beck claims anyway that she has thrown a rock at him - and it's always fun to pretend, right? They both do love to act. [takes place during 1x05]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faked break-up

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is a one shot I thought of as a joke at first. It was something I amused myself with. But somewhere along the line, I thought: Why shouldn't I write it down? And I like the result very much, so I thought I would share it.  
> It takes place during 1x05 - Jade Dumps Beck - and offers a little bit of another possible perspective on that episode. ;) Much of the dialogue is from there, so not my own.  
> I'm excited to hear what you think about this. :3 Have fun reading!

Of course, she is pissed about this Alyssa Vaughn business. But she has known before that Beck is in that Yoga class with her and that they sometimes talk. Beck has told her from the first minute on and they have argued a little bit about it and Jade hates the thought of him being close to a girl like that, a girl who she thinks could win him over so easily but they won’t be in the same class for too long and Beck has promised again and again that he has only eyes for her, Jade.  
Now, there is a picture of Alyssa and Beck online and yes, Jade also doesn’t like that but Beck has let her vent about it, then has wrapped his arms around her and has apologized to let someone take that picture.  
At the moment, they are making out in an empty classroom when Beck suddenly says: “Tori and Andre saw that picture of Alyssa and me.”  
“Ugh,” she just answers and kisses him again.  
“I know,” he says. “I’m just telling you because I claimed you threw a rock at me because of it.”  
She smirks. “I totally should have.”  
He pulls her into another kiss now before he says: “Well... They do expect you to freak out about this.”  
Jade looks into his eyes. She knows what he’s getting at.  
Sometimes, they pretend to fight. They also fight for real often enough but sometimes, they also like to act like they are fighting. They both love acting and it always feels exhilarating to have everyone believe them. Jade is pretty sure that Cat always knows when they are not actually fighting, at least she’s more careful around Jade whenever she and Beck are really fighting than when they just act. But everyone else always seem to believe them.  
Also, even if they only act like they fight they extensively make up after and that’s always great fun as well.  
They have to be a little careful of course because sometimes they do or say stuff when they pretend-fight that actually gets them into a real fight. But over the months they sometimes do this now, they have gotten much better at it. And it definitely keeps their relationship interesting and fun and makes them better actors.  
So, Jade smiles now: “Then let me freak out.”  
They kiss again, very deeply this time because they don’t know when they will be able to do that next, then they share a small smile before they both instantly make a serious face and Jade starts yelling: “I don’t want you to talk to her again.”  
“It’s not a big deal, Jade,” Beck answers, with a raised voice himself before he turns around and leaves the room.  
Jade follows him, pretending to be extremely angry and realizing that there are already a few people fleetingly glancing at them in the hallways.  
“Hey! We’re not done talking about this,” she says as Beck goes down the stairs first.  
“I am,” Beck answers.  
“Well, I’m not.”  
Beck finally turns around again, now that they are at the bottom of the stairs.  
“Listen,” he says. “Alyssa Vaughn is just a friend.”  
“Yeah, a friend who’s already sent you six text messages today,” Jade says. She knows that that’s true. She has been with Beck most of the day and she knows his expression when he gets a text she doesn’t like. They have dated for a long time now, after all.  
Ironically, at that exact moment, he gets another text message and it’s just too perfect.  
Instead of showing how happy she is about the timing, she grits her teeth. “Seven.”  
“You don’t know that’s her,” Beck claims.  
“Is it?” Jade asks and sure enough: As soon as Beck takes a look, she knows it really has been her. It does piss her off again because who does that woman think she is, texting him seven times though he doesn’t even answer. Expect if he has answered.  
She narrows her eyes and knows she will have to ask him about that after their act. Now is not the time.  
“What’s your favorite tropical fruit?” Beck asks, acting like he wants to get away from this whole Alyssa topic to not have to say that of course she texted him again.  
“The mango,” Jade shortly answers. “And I don’t like your new little relationship with Alyssa Vaughn.”  
Beck wiggles the phone in front of her. “It’s a text message.”  
Then he turns to his locker, takes a few more steps that she follows.  
“And what does it say?” she asks. “Maybe: ‘Hi, Beck. My Daddy just got richer and I got prettier. Let’s make out.’”  
Beck turns back to her again. She’s sure to almost see him smile a little about her doing a stupid imitation of Alyssa. He always likes when she’s doing a voice.  
But he’s an awesome actor and surely, nobody else sees, as he directly says: “Okay. Let me see if I understand you.”  
“Let’s see if you do!” she tells him provocatively.  
Beck takes a deep breath. “Because you and I date, I can’t be friends with other girls.”  
“You can be friends with ugly girls,” Jade promptly claims. “But not girls who are gorgeous socialites, who text message you a hundred times a day.”  
She knows love hasn’t to do with looks. But she also knows that it will be easy for everyone to fall for a girl like Alyssa Vaughn with her looks, her money and her status. Why should Beck be any different, no matter how much he promises otherwise?  
“You know you...” Beck starts again and then, suddenly, looks past her and calls out: “Tori! Tori, can you come here?”  
Perfect. Jade knows a few people are already watching and she’s sure they believe what they see. But involving Tori could mean much more fun and a much bigger challenge. They’ve also pulled Andre and Robbie into their pretend fights before and have convinced them. Though Jade is still sure Robbie once has been dangerously close to figuring them out and they have quickly made up because of it.  
They haven’t had a pretend fight since Tori is at Hollywood Arts. And it will be interesting to see if she will be able to look through them. Jade is sure she isn’t.  
“What?” Tori asks sceptically as she gets closer.  
“If you were my girlfriend,” Beck starts but Jade has to interrupt: “Ugh, great way to start the question.” She doesn’t have to act there. She doesn’t like a question like that, especially for Tori who has had that unscripted kiss with Beck after all.  
But Beck holds his hand out to tell her to be silent and continues: “Would you be all freaked out that I’m just friends with Alyssa Vaughn?”  
“Who cares what she thinks?” Jade says and she really doesn’t but she mainly wants to provoke a reaction out of Tori. She does want her involved if just to see if they can also pull it of with her while she thinks she’s oh so smart.  
Tori does answer now, though very calm: “Honestly, I wouldn’t love it.”  
Jade promptly grabs Tori by her arms and claims: “I care what she thinks.” Though she still doesn’t. If this was a real fight, she wouldn’t give a damn about Tori’s opinion. She isn’t even a friend.  
Beck also seems to think about this friend thing – he is friends with Tori after all and her siding with Jade then doesn’t seem to sit well with him.  
“How can you say that?” he therefore say. “You don’t even...”  
“You know I really don’t want to be in the middle of this,” Tori says and is about to go, clearly feeling uncomfortable which is an achievement but they have to go further, so Jade stops her: “No, you stay right here.”  
Tori shortly complains but Beck already involves her again as well: “You don’t think a girlfriend should just trust her boyfriend?”  
“No, I do,” Tori assures him and just for the sake of her believeabilty, she has to say: “Get out of here, Tori.”  
“I’d love to,” she says and is about to go away again but this time, Beck stops her: “Stay.”  
Tori turns back again but Jade knows they have to take this a step further. It’s time again for a big one. They’ve only done this two times before and both have been very short, only about an hour. The times they just pretended to fight they went with it much longer. This is much more challenging though. If only because Jade hates to even act like it, hates that some girls instantly think they have a real chance with Beck now and she can do almost nothing about it. But she will claim him back and in a big way. And she will have to do roles she may not completely like later in life as well she guesses.  
So, she says: “Alright. You know what?”  
“Tell me what!” Beck replies and she’s sure he knows what will happen.  
Tori also seems to know: “No, no. Don’t tell him what.”  
“We’re done,” she decides.  
“So, you’re breaking up with me?” he asks and she nods: “Yeah, I am.”  
She notices that Tori wants to stop her and loves every second of it. She still stomps off because that is what she would do if this was real.  
“You’re being ridiculous,” Beck yells after her and she makes sure you yell back even louder: “What do you care? I’m not your girlfriend anymore!”

Only a few minutes later, they text.  
Beck: Wow. We broke up.  
Jade: I broke up with you.  
Beck: Can’t believe it.  
Jade: You can make it up to me.  
Beck: You broke up with me.  
Jade: Yeah, because you’ve done something wrong.  
Beck: Come make it up to me.  
Jade: You wish.  
Beck: Seriously though: Vaughn invited me for a drink during lunch. Thinking of accepting it to make this worse.  
Jade: Are you kidding me?  
Beck: I’m asking for your permission. I don’t have to do it.  
Jade: Do it.  
Beck: I don’t have to.  
Jade: Do it.  
Beck: I love you.  
Jade: I know. I will remind you how much as soon as we get back together.  
Beck: When will that be anyway?  
Jade: Whenever it works.

She isn’t happy about him doing anything with Alyssa Vaughn except his stupid class. She really is pissed about this though she knows that Beck’s main reason for this really is to make their “fight” even more interesting, more extreme. Yes, he also likes talking with Alyssa but she knows for her sake he wouldn’t even have thought about going anywhere with her if there wasn’t this pretend fight.  
He texts Jade the whole way through until he’s on his way back.  
She sits in the asphalt café by now, sends some stupid idiots away from her table and only shortly after, Tori and Andre arrive.  
“Hey,” Tori greets with a cheerful attitude.  
“Hey, Jade,” Andre says, definitely careful, totally believing her bad mood because of some break-up.  
“You look a little like a lady who could use some lunch buddies,” Tori continues and this whole cheerful attitude is definitely acted. She believes it just as much.  
And Jade knows she would tell them “no” just like everyone else (except possibly Cat who is away for the week because of problems with her brother) if she really would have just broken up with Beck because she knows her heart would barely be able to handle it.  
But she isn’t sure if they would stay despite that, so she settles on a dark: “Please.”  
Tori’s face softens. “Well, I just thought that you were mad because of...”  
“I broke up with Beck,” Jade points out as she would do if this was for real. “Okay? I dumped him.”  
And that’s the moment, a car pulls up into the parking lot. Alyssa Vaughn and Beck. Jade doesn’t like the sight at all, Beck laughing at something Alyssa has just said and everything. Beck has to make it up to her for this.  
So, it’s not that hard to act extremely pissed when Tori and Andre start talking about this, and to leave her food behind as she isn’t hungry at all anymore.

She sits in the janitor’s closet on the cupboard next to the door to collect her thoughts about this whole business and wants to throw them directly out when the door opens and someone comes in. Then, she realizes it’s Beck.  
He looks at her like he has expected her here and closes the door behind him before he steps right up to her and kisses her.  
She kisses back, quite hard, and it lasts for over a minute.  
Only after, he speaks: “I will never go with her anywhere again.”  
“You better not,” she snaps but she still holds him close. “That was disgusting.”  
“I know. I’m sorry,” he says and kisses her another time. “Andre told me you saw us and he actually said that I maybe should be a little more considerate and that he knows you broke up but I know you after all and he guesses I don’t want to hurt you but did when I showed up with the reason you broke up with me. So, at least it was totally believable for him.”  
“Well, I really am pissed,” she says though honestly, the thought of Andre who is Beck’s best friend actually going up to him and saying he should be considerate of her, Jade, soothes her.Only because she obviously is a great actress then, she tells herself. Though at that table not everything was acted... and possibly it’s more about the fact that at least someone except Cat and Beck really does care at least a little about her.  
“I know,” he says again, kisses her another time. “I will make it up to you.”  
“You will have to,” she says and while they share another kiss, the bell rings for the next lesson.  
Jade leaves the closet first with Beck following a few minutes after.

When Jade is home that afternoon, Beck texts her again.  
Beck: Coming over?  
Jade: We’re broken up, remember?  
Beck: :( I thought you wanted me to make it up to you.  
Jade: You will have to wait for that.  
Beck: What are you doing?  
Jade: Working on a plan.  
Beck: Excited to see what’ll happen. ;)  
Jade: You should be.

She has thought about it for a while but now she’s more than ready to go for it.  
After she knows she has gotten Andre again so easily, she wants to have a full try on Tori, a complete act in front of her.  
On her way here, she has found a broken kite in a bush and her thoughts have been running wild. She has a plan, a story and she knows if she can sell this, she has to be one of the greatest actresses in the whole world. Though she knows she has the advantage of Tori being extremely nice and always wanting to help.  
She now stands in front of her door, takes in a deep breath and focuses on the idea of Beck and her actually being broken up.  
Then she rings the doorbell.  
“Jade?” Tori asks surprised as she opened the door.  
Jade goes right by her, pretending to be distressed.  
“And now, you’re in my house,” Tori notices.  
“This kite is broken,” Jade says just as she has planned while she turns back to Tori, looking at her desperately.  
“Okay. And?” Tori doesn’t seem to understand. She isn’t supposed to. Even if she barely knows Jade yet, she has to know that Jade would never come right out and tell her about her problems. That’s what makes this realistic.  
“I was just walking around,” Jade says, trying to sound a like choked on her own tears. “And I saw this kite stuck in a bush. And it’s broken. Someone needs to fix it.”  
“You want me to fix your kite?” Tori asks confused.  
Ok, she has to realize that this isn’t about the kite, right? That Jade wouldn’t come to her this distraught because of some broken kite. Probably, she just doesn’t know how to approach the real subject.  
“Will you forget about the stupid kite?” Jade therefore asks, throwing it away and kicking after it, so they can get to the real topic.  
“I’m sorry I brought it up?” Tori replies, still sounding a little confused, and Jade now fully goes for it: “I want Beck back!”  
“But you broke up with Beck,” Tori notices.  
“I know!” Jade claims. “Just like when I was seven and I threw away my potato patch pal but then I realized I wanted him back but it was too late ‘cause my mother already gave it away to some greedy orphans!”  
Maybe, that has been too much and has sounded too superficial. Beck isn’t some toy. And she may have had a potato patch pal but she has given it away voluntarily. And she would never call orphans greedy. But it has just worked in this situation and now it’s out and she can’t take it back and she’s sure Tori will know that something’s up.  
Apparently, she doesn’t though. “Jade, if you want to get back together with Beck, then why don’t you just tell him?”  
Okay, the gig isn’t up yet.  
“I did but he rejected me,” she claims although she of course totally hasn’t told Beck she wants to be back together with him. They aren’t even broken up for real after all – and this game is supposed to go on for another while.  
“Uhm... Not to be mean but why are you coming to me for help?” Tori suddenly asks.  
And that’s actually a good question. She does realize that Jade normally wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t come to her of all people.  
She decides to stay superficial with it, in hope that Tori would think this is her mechanism to protect herself. “Because I don’t want anyone who’s cool to see me like this!”  
“Okay, maybe you should...” Tori starts saying and seem to only then realize what Jade has said. “Wait, are we friends? We’re not even friends!”  
“Well, yeah,” Jade answers and thinks fast. Well, Tori has tried to be her friend since she has come to Hollywood Arts, so she could go for this: “But if you help me, maybe I’ll like you.”  
Tori doesn’t sound convinced: “So if I help you, I get a mean friend and a broken kite?”  
Okay, but Tori is still someone who wants to help, who probably won’t stand to see her as broken as she will pretend to be in a second.  
She grabs a pillow while she says, totally whiny: “Please, just please talk to Beck for me!”  
She presses her face into the pillow and kind of starts wailing over-dramatically while she cries actual tears.  
She isn’t sure if it’s working until Tori finally touches her ever so slightly and says: “Okay. Okay. I’ll talk to Beck.”  
“Do it soon!” Jade says and only then she raises her head up again and notices that the pillow now has marks from her makeup. She hasn’t meant to do that but guesses that her face with the makeup now really looks as if she has been crying, as if she’s desperate, and therefore, it’s extremely realistic.  
“I got a little makeup on your pillow,” she tells Tori.  
“It’s okay,” the other girl answers, taking the pillow out of her lap into her own. “I’ll just... ask my grandmother to make me another one. If she ever comes back to life.”  
Okay, Jade really hasn’t wanted to do that. She hasn’t wanted to destroy some memento of her grandmother.  
But she also isn’t about to apologize for it because she never would and finally Tori says: “Well, then... Maybe, you should go home and I will go over to Beck’s?”  
Jade hasn’t really thought about how Tori would probably talk best to him at his home, in his RV. She doesn’t like the idea of her going there, espeically at this time of day, but she guesses she can’t protest now. So that’s how they do it.

Later that evening Beck texts her again.  
Beck: You got Tori on your side and made her do your dirty work. Impressive.  
Jade: Was she able to convince you that I’m just the best?  
Beck: Eh. She may be on my side of this fight now. Let’s see. ;)  
Jade: What have you told her?  
Beck: Just wait.  
Jade: I hate you.  
Beck: Patience, babe. I love you. <3

“So?” Jade asks as soon as she finally sees Tori the next morning, leaning against the wall next to her locker.  
Tori directly understands what she wants to talk about. “I don’t know,” her answer is. “I’m not sure you’ll have a chance.”  
“What? Why?” Jade asks as if she hasn’t counted on that though she has. Beck has warned her after all.  
“I mean...” Tori seems a little uncertain, then she asks: “Is it true that you only got him a can of lemonade for his last birthday?”  
Wow, Beck. Really? That’s what you’ve told her?  
But Jade will definitely take it in her stride, will go with this.  
“Cause he likes lemonade!” she defends herself.  
“Yeah, but out of a can?” Tori asks as if that would be the issue if Jade would have actually only given him lemonade for his birthday.  
Well, she can work with this. “He drank it!”  
“Yeah, but...” Tori starts again and... Jade really doesn’t want t argue about lemonade, so she cuts in: “Do I have a boyfriend or don’t I?”  
“Do you want one?”  
Ugh. Whenever that creep has started listening.  
“Walk away,” Jade tells him without looking at him and at least he directly listens to her.  
Then she looks at Tori expectantly once more who closes her locker while she says: “Well... I really don’t know.”  
She goes over to the vending machine to get herself a water and Jade follows her. Accusingly but also desperately, she says: “I thought you would talk to him for me!”  
“I did,” Tori says. “But it didn’t work. What do you expect me to do?”  
She grabs the water and takes a few steps when Jade calls out, way too whiny for her own taste: “Help me!”  
“I tried,” Tori replies, turning back to her. “Maybe you just need to forget about Beck.”  
No, she can’t give up! She’s supposed to “fix this”. If they achieve that, if they achieve her doing everything for them to get back together and they can convince her that she has, they are truly great actors. Of course Jade can also let her give up, tell Beck the game is over and think with him about a possible story how they got back together – though they probably wouldn’t even have to tell. They just would be back together for lunch or something and if someone would ask confused, she would glare at them and it would have been done.  
But she feels like making Tori do all this, having her as an audience while getting back together, that would be a big win, a big satisfaction.  
So, she will go for it even more.  
Seemingly helplessly she opens her mouth as if she doesn’t know what to say, then she grabs Tori’s arm and pulls her into the janitor’s closet.  
She won’t even pretend to cry in front of everyone because she knows some idiots would use it against her, would possibly taunt her for it. And she knows this also makes sense for Tori, will make this more believeable because Tori also has to know that Jade would never cry in front of the whole school.  
“And now we’re in a closet,” Tori notices.  
“How can Beck not want me back?” Jade asks, now crying, and thinking fast once again. She decides to go with something superficial again. She honestly doesn’t care what Tori thinks of her, if she ever believes she is shallow. And obviously Tori already thinks it could be true. She has believed her talking about Beck like he’s a toy and has also believed she has only given him a can of lemonade for his birthday.  
She is ready to take it to the extreme: “I’m so cool and hot. I’ve got it all!”  
“Yeah, but guys don’t just care about how cool and hot you are,” Tori says. Yeah, no kidding.  
“Well, what else is there?” she asks anyway. Let’s hear what Tori thinks relationships are all about. As if she could ever know more about relationships than Jade who has been together with Beck for such a long time.  
Tori shrugs, then: “Beck said you haven’t done one nice thing for him in two year.”  
Oh, has he now? Has he really said that? Not only has she just gotten him a can of lemonade for his birthday but apparently has never done anything else for him. He will have to do a lot to make this up to her.  
But as it doesn’t matter what Tori thinks and this is a good acting exercise, she also goes with this: “That is so not true. We’ve only dated a year and eleven months.”  
“Well...” Tori seems to think. “Maybe, he’d take you back if you did something nice for him.” Yeah, because relationships totally work like that. Because she could make never doing anything for him up with doing one nice thing.  
But Tori still thinks about helping her apparently. To pull her back in fully again, she has to make sure Tori thinks she can’t do this on her own.  
“You mean like... make him fresh lemonade?” she therefore asks and thinks someone should applaud her when Tori really believes that’s her suggestion.  
“If you want Beck back, you have to think bigger than beverages.”  
She does already. This could actually get really fun.  
“A dog!” she suddenly says.  
“Okay, if you’re gonna be rude...” Tori starts and Jade has to do her best not to laugh because it’s awesome that Tori believes she would insult her like that.  
But she cuts through it: “No! Beck’s always saying how he wants a dog.”  
He does want one but his parents don’t and he couldn’t really keep it in the RV as it’s way too small to hold a dog, so he hasn’t gotten himself one. Because of the circumstances, it of course would also be dumb for Jade to get him one. Not to mention that it’s never smart to give a pet as a present. But she will see if Tori will go for it.  
And to prove another time that Tori needs to help her, she gets the race wrong on purpose as if she doesn’t know the exact name after Beck has talked to her about how much he liked those dogs endlessly: “A rottenhymer.”  
“A rottweiler?” Tori immediately corrects.  
“Yes, that’s what he wants,” Jade says. “Okay. What’s our next move?”  
“Just get the boy a dog!” the janitor suddenly says.  
Gosh, they haven’t even noticed that they aren’t alone in the closet. This is freaky and creepy and they run out.  
Tori agrees though, on their way to class, to get a dog with her in the evening and bring it with her to Beck.

In class, she of course has to text Beck:  
Jade: Seriously? I’ve only gotten you a can of lemonade?  
Beck: I wouldn’t have counted on you getting Tori on your side and was kind of put on the spot.  
Beck: And I’d like to find out your reaction. Too bad I wasn’t close just now.  
Jade: Tori will still help me. So, there’s that. And you will only get a can of lemonade to your next birthday. And I won’t do anything for you until then as I apparently never do.  
Beck: Oh, come on, babe!  
Beck: Btw: Think your brilliant to convince Tori anyway to help you.  
Jade: I’m just better than you.  
Beck: I know. What will you do next?  
Jade: Just wait. Patience and whatever.  
Jade: Tell me that you love me.  
Beck: I love you.

They share a few looks from different lunch tables but other than that don’t interact at all that day which sucks.  
As soon as school is over, Tori and Jade get to the nearest animal shelter. Jade doesn’t even really look at the dogs. While Tori does, Jade pays one of the workers some money, so they can take one of the dogs with them for the night without further questions and without actually adopting it.  
Jade is sure Beck can mange to act happy about the dog, so they can finally get back together, and at the same time, he will have an excuse ready to give it back anyway. Or they won’t get back together. But while this may all be fun and challenging, Jade definitely wants to get back together. She always hates when she sees him but can’t touch him .She always hates when they don’t talk. It’s also like that when they fight for real and she can never really handle it.  
She hopes Beck feels the same, so it will be easy to get back together. Maybe, some part of her is also afraid that he has realized over the last two days that life is easier without her. But he would have asked for a talk then, wouldn’t he have? They are actually still together after all.  
As soon as they get to Beck’s RV, Jade makes sure he is in there, and she definitely sees him in his bed. It’s weird for him to already be asleep but maybe he has guessed they would still come and has wanted to pretend for some reason. She doesn’t know what he has planned which is part of the challenge, having someone else involved.  
Now, she finally sends the dog in and closes the door behind it before she turns to Tori: “Okay, if this makes Beck like me again, I’m gonna owe you big time.” She definitely wants Tori invested in this because she’s the only one who’s involved now and why they need to keep up any acting at all. Maybe, this is another incentive for her.  
“You already owe me big time,” Tori claims and maybe that’s true because she has already done some stuff for her but she still doesn’t know if she will say so when they hear weird noises out of the RV.  
For a second, Jade’s heart freezes because it sounds like someone is being attacked by a dog in there and what the hell has she done? Is Beck mauled by that awful dog? Is Beck in danger?  
But no, this isn’t Beck’s usual voice. She hasn’t heard him in actual panic or pain ever but she has known him for a long time now and she knows this isn’t how he would sound. Maybe, this is his bad attempt at acting scared. She knows he has never been good at that. And maybe, he also makes his voice so weird now, so she definitely knows he’s acting.  
This is of course an interesting choice. Acting like he’s fighting with the dog. Well, let’s see where this goes.  
She starts to act like in panic herself (and is hoping she’s doing a better job then Beck though Tori is afraid for real and probably won’t notice either way) but also has to try if she can still sell this whole “I’m so superficial”-business in a moment like this: “Now, he’s never gonna take me back.”  
Obviously, Tori thinks she is serious, as she promptly scolds her: “That’s not the key issue right now.”  
Of course, it isn’t. She is about to smirk but she is a good actress, keeps pretending to panic when she suddenly hears a voice: “What is going on?”  
No.  
She turns around. “Beck?”  
He can’t be here. He’s in the RV.  
She barely hears Tori ask how he can be out here when she already says: “You’re in there being mauled by a dog.” Or at least pretending to be.  
“A dog?” Beck asks truly shocked. “My dad’s in there!”  
No, that can’t be true! His father can’t be in there. Because if it’s his father... He wouldn’t act. Then he truly is being mauled by that dog in there. He truly is getting hurt. This isn’t a joke or an acting exercise anymore.  
Beck also isn’t acting. He really starts to panic now and after he doesn’t go in because he sees the dog, Jade promptly decides she has to get in. She can’t let this happen. She has never wanted to hurt anyone with this and this is her fault.  
So, she goes into the RV without another thought. The whole RV is a mess. Obviously, Mr. Oliver has tried everything to get out or the dog away from him, has destroyed a few things during it, probably run into another few and hurt himself on them. But the dog also must have gotten him at least lightly a few times. Right now, Mr. Oliver tries to get onto the bed, crying out loud, while the dog has his teeth in his left arm.  
“Drop!” is the first command that comes into Jade’s mind and actually, the dog lets go for at least a moment. She knows it can’t hold for long but she uses the moment to grab the dog by its collar and pull it back from Mr. Oliver who’s afraid and shaking and backs away as far as he can.  
The dog wants to go after him again, luckily not after Jade herself, though she is sure that that can change at any moment but then Beck is also there and grabs the dog as well and together they pull it out of the RV, protecting each other from not being the next target.  
Tori snatches the leash in place and goes over to the fence to bind it there. As soon as she has, all three of them back away and the dog’s still barking but for the moment, everyone is safe.  
As soon as Beck realizes that, he’s back on his way into the RV and to his father. Jade follows him but calls back to Tori to call an ambulance and animal control.  
Mr. Oliver is still standing on the bed, shaking, and Beck helps him sit down, looks at all his injuries, talks calmly to him, saying everything is ok, they’ve called the ambulance, the dog won’t come back anymore.  
Jade stands next to Beck and doesn’t know what to do. How did this happen?  
Tori is soon with them and it doesn’t take much longer for the ambulance to also come. While they are still talking to Mr. Oliver and giving first aid, two people from the animal control service arrive. Jade shows them the dog who doesn’t bark anymore and now lies on the gras as if he couldn’t hurt a thing, and she explains to them what has happened, where she got the dog.  
They take it away before Mr. Oliver finally leaves the RV and is taken on a stretcher and then rolled into the ambulance.  
Jade doesn’t look at Mr. Oliver again. Apparently, he’s already well cared for. She has only eyes for Beck. Because it’s Beck who has to worry. And yes, she also is afraid that he will see this all as absolutely her fault and will break up with her for real because of this. She can’t shake the feeling that she deserves to be broken up with after this but she loves Beck and she can’t be without him. And she never wanted this to happen.  
She and Tori both call out to Mr. Oliver that they are sorry before the paramedic closes the doors of the ambulance and assures them: “He’ll be fine.”  
“Thanks,” Beck says like the guy he just is.  
And suddenly, the woman comes closer with that look in her eye, Jade knows too well, has seen too often before. “Hey, are you in college yet?”  
Jade has to grab his arm instantly. “Bye.”  
Luckily, she leaves after that but Jade still has other problems: She wants to apologize about bringing the dog. She also wants to make sure that they are still together. But Tori is also still around. And there is the fact that she does think they are long broken up. Jade is more than willing to give up on the whole act and confess that it also was just an act but she knows Beck could still be willing to go with this. If Tori gets to know now that they just pretended, everyone will know soon and probably can also guess about all the times before. This is not something they want anyone to know about.  
She tries to read Beck’s face about all of this, asks herself if he can even think about anything right now with his father being hurt like that, but for a moment he looks in her eye before he passes and goes in the directions of the house.  
She is sure, he wants her to go with this. If he doesn’t, he can still say. Though possibly, he will hate her even more if he isn’t even able to think about their pretend break-up while she still goes through with it in a situation like this.  
But she knows him and she’s sure to be able to read him, even with that one short eye contact.  
“Tori told me to get you a dog.”  
“Dude!” Tori says but Jade’s attention is fully on Beck as he turns and yes, he wants her to go on. They will finish this up for Tori to not get busted in all their small acts and then they possibly have to talk about this for real or whatever. Jade isn’t sure about what will happen but first things first.  
She goes up to Beck as she puts her real desperation about all of this into her act: “Okay, it was kind of my idea but I didn’t think the dog would bug out like that. I just wanted you to have a dog because I know you’ve talked about getting one ever since I met you, and I thought that maybe...”  
She’s interrupted by a kiss that feels amazing and relieving. Because they haven’t kissed for too long now. She has missed his touch and his lips on hers. But it also feels great that the act is over with this. This is a realistic end.  
But the kiss also shows her that he isn’t angry with her in any way for this.   
“You love me again,” Jade softly says as they break apart again. It’s not just for pretend for Tori but also real relief.  
He smiles, definitely knows, and answers: “Who said I stopped?”  
Jade feels her heart flutter happily because with the way Beck looks at her, he definitely wants to say that he has never doubted their love and also doesn’t think he will ever stop loving her.  
Tori chooses that exact moment though to make a noise in awe.  
Jade turns around, almost glaring, and Tori notices: “I ruined the moment.”  
Well, but Tori has helped her though they aren’t actually friends and despite everything Beck and Jade herself have told and showed her about the supposed superficiality Jade’s.  
“It’s cool,” she therefore says. “And I really do owe you.”  
And that’s that. That’s the act. Thank you and good bye.  
She turns back to Beck and involves him into another deep kiss, needs to feel him now. And she knows, Beck needs her just as bad. Because he has missed her as well, even after merely two days and only one without kissing, and because his father has just been injured and he needs her close now to feel better.  
They get interrupted after a while: “Hey, uhm... It’s getting kinda late, so I was wondering if maybe you could drive me home?”  
Jade faces Tori again. She has to be kidding, right? Jade won’t drive her home now. She has to know that Beck needs her around now.  
“It’s not that far a walk,” Jade says and then kisses Beck again.  
It’s a definite sign that he really needs her around now that he doesn’t draw back in the slightest and says that he possibly can drive Tori home before getting to the hospital though he does care about Tori and it is quite late.  
But Beck returns the kiss and draws her closer and Jade hears Tori saying “Try not to swallows each other” before she leaves.  
They keep making out for a few minutes and it feels so right and good after the time apart but Jade has to say after a while: “I’m so so sorry.”  
Tori is gone, she doesn’t have to check. They can talk about what truly happened now.  
“It’s not your fault,” Beck gives back but Jade says: “It is. I thought you were badly acting in there.”  
She looks at him guiltily but he pulls her into another kiss.  
Then, she asks: “Why did your father sleep in the RV anyway?”  
Beck slightly sighs. “Yeah, well... He always said how he would like to sleep in it for the kick of it or whatever... As my mom isn’t home today and I guessed you and Tori would come over for some plan, I thought this is his chance and this whole thing could get a little bit more funny if you would have to talk to him first. Well... I wouldn’t have guessed you’d bring a dog.”  
“I’m really sorry,” Jade repeats herself because she truly, truly is.  
He kisses her again before he says: “Don’t worry about it. They said he would be ok. But I have to get some stuff for him and drive to the hospital.”  
Jade pulls further away from him, out of his arm, to show him he definitely can go. “Of course,” she says. He should get to his father.  
He takes her hand in his as he steps closer to her again and kisses her another time.  
Still close to her, he whispers: “Wait for me in the RV?”  
“You sure?” He may be able to stay in the hospital with his father or may want to be alone afterwards after all. Also, she’s sure he will call his mother and she will drive back in an instant because of this and maybe he want to spend time with his family.  
Beck smiles at her with a small nod. “We’ve been broken up way too long.”  
She smiles as well. “I’ll text my mom that I’ll stay the night.”  
They kiss another time and another before they go into the house together, Jade helps Beck to pack up a few things for his father, then he’s on his way.  
She cleans up the RV as best as she can because this is still her fault and the only thing she can do is at least don’t have the place bloody and destroyed because of the attack.  
He comes back not even two hours later when Jade has thrown out everything that has been destroyed beyond repair and everything else cleaned.  
He tells him about his father’s condition that really doesn’t seem to be too bad though he’s still shaken. Beck’s mother has arrived at the hospital only shortly before he left. She would apparently stay with his father for another hour – as long as she is allowed in the hospital – then she will come back home.  
Beck doesn’t leave the RV anymore this night however. He stays right with Jade.  
The next morning, they come to school together, hand in hand, like so often before, and soon enough make out against his locker, to make sure everyone knows. A few girls are obviously not very happy about them being back together, their friends however all seem to be.  
And Tori has totally believed their whole act, so nobody’s the wiser.  
And as there is no permanent damage, they can now marvel at the fact, they have done it again. At the fact that everyone believed them.  
As Sikowitz goes on about acting in today’s class and talks about how all of them would have to learn to be quick on their feet, to be able to improvise because they would never know when they would need it, Beck pulls Jade closer to him with a confident smile. With a smirk, she kisses him.


End file.
